What does Bart say about.. Movie Park Germany 🎥

What will you get when you combine movies with theme park attractions? Exactly; Movie Park Germany! Movie Park Germany is located in Bottrop, not too far across the Dutch border. A perfect park for a daytrip to ride some coasters. The park has a comprehensive history knowing several owners and names*. The most interesting time for the park started in 1993 when ’Bavaria Filmpark Bottrop’ closed to reopen in 1996 as ‘Warner Brothers Movie World’. Warner Bros. invested in the park to make it interesting to visit once again. New attractions were added themed to the Warner Bros. licenses.

After season 2004, Warner Bros. left the park in Bottrop, to reopen in 2005 as Movie Park Germany. With this takeover, the Warner Bros. licence expired with the result that most of the park’s attractions received a different theme and/or appearance. When the Warner Bros. licence expired, Movie Park Germany gained some other licences, namely the licences from MGM, 20th Century Fox and perhaps the most important licence for the park, Nickelodeon. I was curious to see if you still can tell the park was owned by Warner Bros. and decided to travel to Bottrop to have a look at the current state of the park. Are you curious what I think of Movie Park Germany anno 2025? Find out in.. What Does Bart Say about. Movie Park Germany 🎥

Park hours on my visit were 10am to 6pm, except for some attractions (this was indicated on the information boards at the entrance of each attraction), apart from indicating the park hours, they also indicated (before entering the park) which attractions were experiencing closed, or under maintenance. During my visit, only ‘NYC Transformer’, a HUSS topspin, was closed. I’m a huge topspin lover, but from previous visits I remember that the programme of this topspin wasn’t the best. So it didn’t matter to me that this attraction remained closed for today. I passed ‘NYC Transformer’ on my visit, and you could tell it was an attraction that was missed by several visitors. You could tell some of the park guests were disappointed seeing the not operating sign at the entrance of the attraction.

I would like to go back to entering the park. Entering the park went surprisingly smoothly. Most visitors had already looked up their admission ticket on their phones and were able to scan their QR code to enter the park without too much trouble. Once you entered the park, you could see most park guests running to their favourite rides, but I had decided to take it easy until I saw S.A.M. standing there waving at the incoming park guests; the mascot of Movie Park Germany. S.A.M. was still on my mascot bingo card so a photo together with S.A.M. had to be taken. During my previous visit, I only saw S.A.M. on his parade float and had to do with a quick selfie. If you’re a mascot enthusiast like me you probably can imagine how excited I was when I saw S.A.M. standing at the entrance to take a normal photo.

After taking a photo with S.A.M., I made my way into the park along ‘The Hollywood Street Set’, the park’s mainstreet. While many parks often have a hard time keeping up with bright colours, Movie Park Germany managed to keep the buildings in a perfect colour scheme. The colours come off well, of course if you look closely, and are critical, there is always something to be said. And as a theme park enthusiast, you look at certain things differently than the daily guest. All in all, it is a mainstreet the park should be proud of. And to be honest, this is my favourite part of the park. The atmosphere is perfect, in the background recognizable tunes from various movies are playing and if you are lucky you will bump into a movie star or two.

‘The Hollywood Street Set’ houses two attractions: Area 51 – Top Secret (this attraction can be found upon park entry on your left) and the 4D cinema Roxy where the film ‘Tom and Jerry’ is currently playing. The film is in German but easy to follow even if you don’t-and or can’t understand much of the German language. The 4D effects are nicely conceived, but the timing of some of the effects could be better. Although I must admit that this is one of the better 4D films I have seen in a theme park. Besides the two attractions in this part of the park you will be able to see the ‘Hollywood on Parade‘ – parade, and the park’s stunt show. The stunt show is highly recommended. I’m usually not into these types of shows but I feasted my eyes on this 20-minute show. The show is packed with action, comedy and even with interaction with the park guests. The show times are indicated at the theatre entrance and in the park app. Keep in mind that the entrance may close earlier due to limited capacity in the stands.

In ‘The Streets of New York’ it’s clear to see that the rides here have had an earlier theme except for Van Helsing’s Factory, this roller coaster opened in June 2011 as a replacement for the Gremlins Invasion, which closed in postseason 2004 due to the takeover as described earlier. The iconic entrance of the Gremlins Invasion has been preserved and themed after a 1950s American garage. Van Helsing’s Factory is one of my favorite roller coasters in the park. The roller coaster has a few unexpected moments during the ride, and the activated effects during the ride are brilliant.Van Helsing’s Factory is an intense coaster, probably because of the use of special effects and total darkness in some parts of the ride. I can imagine if this rollercoaster had been an outdoor coaster, without effects, this rollercoaster would have had a lot less repeat value for me. Van Helsing’s Factory isnt a coaster with the best capacity, so make sure to start at this ride before it gets a long queue.

Time Riders (formerly Batman Adventure – the Ride) is a ride where you can tell it had an earlier theme. The observant Batman fan will detect subtle hints to Wayne Manor in the façade. I haven’t ridden Time Riders myself due to the long queue (40-45 minutes, which I do not think a simulator is worth), I dare not say what the ride looks like inside, since the facade hardly changed after the change to Movie Park Germany, I assume the indoor queue has not been changed much except the movie playing in the simulator. Rumours suggest that Movie Park Germany has plans to give the attraction a makeover, but so far these have not been implemented. Nor have any drawings been brought out about a new theme for Time Riders.

Once you walk towards ‘The Old West’, you discover some remains of Gotham City. These references are not disturbing, and have been addressed to fit into the area. ‘The Streets of New York’ isn’t the park’s largest area and could easily be implemented by the surrounding areas to fit in the theme better.

Whereas ‘The Streets of New York’ features one of the parks best roller coaster, ‘The Old West’ is home to two of the park’s lesser and most notorious roller coasters: ‘Iron Claw’ a Vekoma SLC (Suspended Looping Coaster) and ‘The Bandit’, Both coasters have quite a name under the theme park enthusiasts. Some even say once and done. Both roller coasters were opened in the Warner Bros. era, so have been around for several years now. Whereas ‘The Bandit’ only got a name change when Movie Park Germany took over, ‘Iron Claw’ has a more extensive history, does Iron Claw have an identity crisis? If you ask me, I would loudly say yes! From Eraser (2001-2004), FX (2005) and MP-Express (2006-2022) to Iron Claw (2023-present); the track has seen several colour schemes, and is now painted black and brown to be fit the Lucky Luke (the Daltons Breakout). Due to budget cuts Movie Park Germany chose not to use the Lucky Luke theme, and went for a theme about Wingo Star instead, a movie star who became increasingly unpopular, and so does the coaster. Among us theme park lovers, an SLC is not particularly popular, but I must admit that Iron Claw is quite doable if you can sit in the middle of the train.

Since the start of the 2025 season, you will find new entertainment in the western show at ‘Kiki’s Saloon’. Entering the saloon you instantly feel the western feel like you see in diverse movies and series, with the various tables and bars you can sit at. However, like a saloon it’s not possible to grab a bite or a drink here, which is a shame. I would like to grab a bite and a pint while watching the performance. I’ve seen various guests bring food and drinks in from other stands outside the saloon so this would work. They don’t have to keep the bar open all day, just a few minutes before and till after the show would be perfect. The show lasts +- 20 minutes, and mainly revolves around dancing and singing. The show is spoken entirely in German, and difficult to follow for foreign guests. You could tell the actors had fun playing their part in the show but the show has more potential then shown now. And when a Martien Meiland look-a-like came on stage, I couldn’t hold back my laughter and was waiting for the show to end.

The ‘Santa Monica Pier’ had disappointed me the most. You can tell that Movie Park Germany doesn’t really know what to do with this part of the park, the area is directly adjacent to ‘The Old West’ and to ‘Federation Plaza’. While entering the ‘Santa Monica Pier’ you will find a welcome sign but this isn’t enough to let the surrounding areas flow into this one. And especially when you enter the ‘Santa Monica Pier’ from ‘The Old West. When you blink once you go from the old west to the beach/pier. The park is themed to movie sets but this transition just doesn’t feel right.

I have to admit that the weather during my visit did not help make this area look better either, dark clouds and low temperatures do not exactly suit Santa Monica’s weather. ‘Santa Monica Pier’ lacks atmosphere and entertainment. There used to be a water-ski show on the relatively small lake. If Movie Park Germany could bring back this show it would give the area the vibe that it deserves. They still have the ‘you might get wet’ signs still hanging from the railing. Is this a hint that the show is making a comeback this summer? Or did they simply forget to remove the signs?

One positive thing about this part of the park is the number of rides here. The ‘Santa Monica Pier’ consists mainly of flat rides that can be enjoyed by young and old guests. Should part of your party choose to walk towards the Bandit or Iron Claw the rides could easily fill the wait till your party is returned. If the rides in this area are just a bit too intense, you can always choose to visit ‘Nickland’, the only drawback being that this is on the other side of the park.

In 2007 Movie Park Germany opened ‘Nickland’. Several flat rides had to be removed for this expansion of the park. The few rides remaining in ‘Nickland‘ have been themed to the most popular series of Nickelodeon at that time, like the Fairly Odd Parents, SpongeBob and Dora the Adventure. In ‘Nickland‘ rides for the whole family, rides offering range from flat rides to roller coasters (Ghost Chasers, Jimmy Neutron’s Atomic Flyer and the Backyardigans: Mission to Mars) and water rides. Besides the diverse rides, they give you the opportunity to meet with the Nickelodeon stars, like SpongeBob Squarepants and the Paw Patrol. Speak

One roller coaster surviving the Movie Park Germany takeover is Ghost Chasers, formerly known as ‘Tom and Jerry’ (1996-2004) and ‘Mad Manor’ (2006-2007). This MACK Wild Mouse is surprisingly smooth for its 29-year-old, definitely worth a ride or two if the queue allows too. Something less common for a Wild Mouse is that they have a maximum height of 2.00 metres, this is not indicated at the entrance. Keep this in mind when entering the queue.

You can tell that Movie Park Germany is fond of the Nickelodeon licence, this park section was in the best shape except for the ‘Dora’s Big Adventure’ log flume. This attraction could use some love next closure, the paint is fainting and the queue doesn’t seem to be in the most perfect shape. If the log flume hadnt had a tunnel at the end of the first drop, I would have happily done this log flume. But with the colder temperatures, and not feeling like getting wet, I let this one go. Speaking of water rides, ‘Excalibur – Secrets of the Dark Forest’, an Intamin rapid river, is one to ride while visiting the park. This remains one of the most beautiful rapid rivers I have done, and whatever the weather is like, it’s worth riding!

I day tripped to Bottrop to see what the park would look like in 2025 and whether there was still much of ‘Warner Brothers Movie World’ left. Like I’ve said you can still find some references of ‘Warner Brothers Movie World’, but you can clearly see that the Movie Park Germany is developing its own identity. With a new mascot S.A.M., Nickelodeon as the largest licence and an adjustment to the merchandise offer, the park is well on its way.

In terms of merchandise, Movie Park Germany needs to improve. Movie Park Germany doesn’t have much of its own merchandise which is a shame. You can tell they can’t let go of the Looney Toones yet (the largest souvenir shop is full of them), besides that the merchandise exists of diverse other licenses nothing to do with the Movie Park park. Too bad! There is more demand for Movie Park Germany merchandise than the non park merchandise they sell now. I hope the park has improved their merchandise on my next visit.

I was definitely satisfied leaving the park. The queue times were short, and I was able to ride the attractions I would have liked to ride, and I was surprised to find time to see a few of the shows. The park holds a bright future and I’m curious to see what they will bring. Movie Park Germany is definitely one to keep an eye out for in the future.

Thanks for reading and until the next one!
Bart